Promoting Sports Standard: Awarding the winning athletes at International Sports Events

A ceremony to honor the prize-winning athletes at the 12th ASEAN Para Games, held in Cambodia, and the 17th Southeast Asian Body Building and Body Physique Championship, held in Indonesia, took place in Nay Pyi Taw on Saturday.

Chairman of the State Administration Council, Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, attended the ceremony and made a speech. He said that achievements at international sports competitions promote the prestige of the nation and its people among the world community.

Sports activities have become a national duty that can promote the status of the nation and its people, in addition to being beneficial for health. He continued by stating that according to data released by the World Health Organization in 2022, approximately 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the world's population, are persons with disabilities.

In Myanmar, 12.8% of the country's population, accounting for more than 5 million people, are persons with disabilities according to the 2019 Interim Census. In order to promote sports standards and friendship among individuals with disabilities in the ASEAN region, the ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF) was formed in 2001.

As a member country, Myanmar participates in every sports competition organized by APSF. During the 12th ASEAN Para Games, 82 athletes from Myanmar competed in 8 types of sports and ranked sixth with a total of 56 medals, including 15 gold medals, among the 11 participating countries.

Similarly, Myanmar athletes won a total of 7 medals, including 1 gold medal, at the 17th Southeast Asian Body Building and Body Physique Championship.

Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing urged the athletes to continue their efforts to achieve more success in international competitions in the future.

Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs U Min Thein Zan later explained the status of competing in the 12th ASEAN Para Games.

This was followed by the presentation of honorary cash awards to the winning athletes, coaches, and team managers at the 12th ASEAN Para Games and Southeast Asian Body Building and Body Physique Championship by the Prime Minister, Joint Secretary Lt-Gen Ye Win Oo, council members, and senior military officers.

Then, the winning athletes expressed words of gratitude. It is learned that 30 million kyats were awarded to individual gold medal winners at the 12th ASEAN Para Games, while 20 million kyats and 10 million kyats were awarded for silver and bronze medals respectively.

For team events, 3.5 million kyats were awarded to each player who won a bronze medal. Moreover, the coaches and team managers were awarded 10 million kyats for a gold medal, 5 million kyats for silver, and 3 million kyats for bronze. A total of 1.2295 billion kyats were presented to the winning athletes of the 12th ASEAN Para Games.

For the Southeast Asian Body Building and Body Physique Championship, a cash award of 10 million kyats was presented to the gold medal winner, 7 million kyats to the silver medal winner, and 5 million kyats for the bronze medal winner.

The coaches and managers were also awarded 5 million kyats each. In total, 1.2805 billion kyats were presented for the Southeast Asian Body Building and Body Physique Championship.